Life saving appliance



Dec. 15, 1931; I. WOSK 1,837,089

LIFE SA VING APPLIANC E Filed Feb. 20, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [SS/DORE Was/r ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 15,1931

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ISSIDORE WOSK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LIFE SAVING APPLIANCE Application filed February 20, 1931. Serial No. 517,336.

This invention relates to life preservers and of parts, clearly described in the following more particularly to a life saving appliance specification and fully illustrated in the acin the nature of a jacket having inflatable companying drawings, which latter sho'wemportions, so constructed as to maintain the bodiments of the invention as at present wearer in a substantially vertical position preferred. V a a when in the water. In said drawings: a 1

The primary object of the invention isto Fig. 1 is a front elevation showing the provide a simple and efiicient life saving Complete life saving garment in use; jacket including air inflated members so ar- Fig- 2 is a Side viewof the arrangement ranged that the center of buoyancy is at a hOwn in Fig. 1; 60 point sufliciently above the center of gravity Fig. 3 1s a plan view showing the insid of the body so that the lower part of the body of he g rm nt, the garment sections being and the legs will act as a depending weight separated at the shoulder seams and spread to hold the head upright above the water. out for purposes of clarity;

Another object of the invention is to con- F g-f S 2 1) plan view showing the neck 65" struct a life saving jacket including a plui l ng IlIllt; 1 rality of air inflated members to be disposed gs- 5 and 6 are Views similar to Fig. 4 about the body and so arranged that the f g c eeve members; jacket will be adjustable to the size of the gsatransverse sectional View through g0 persons b d so th t th appljange may b the body portlon of the garment, taken sub- 70 furnished in standard sizes and conveniently t lly 011 the Q 7 g. i availed of by persons of different bodily size g: 8 18 VQ II S c -1 1131 view through and proportions one of the air inflated body portions of the Still another object of the invention is to J k taiken 011 the 11I16 8 fFig. 3;

provide a life saving jacket which may be g- 9 18.11 front W Sh ing a modifica- 75 quickly to person be tI OII 1n WhlCh the SlQQVQ, members ShOWIl lIl enabled to cushion the impact of thewearers gS- 1 2 fi i and i body when. striking the water as when falling 33; 10 IS a VleW i lj t0 Fig. 9, showj i f h i ht d hi h 111 mg still another modification in which the tend to maintain the wearers head in a subneck enCi 1c1i11g unit isjflispensed Withl stantially upright position in case the wearer Referrlng par y t0 h drawshould become unconscious or injured; lngs the hfe savmg Jacket 10 111 thls Instance,

Yet another object of the invention is to Includes a y encircling Portion f fi 7 construct an adjustable life saving jacket Pa of back sectlons 11 a11d 12$u1ta which may be employed in either of several tltilhed g h along F Vertlcal sfam 85 forms, that is to say with air inflated porllldlcated at f front Slde tions disposed about the body only, with air tlons 14 and slum y stltched together inflated sleeve portions attached to the jacket, alollg Short Vertlcal sgeams 16 f 1f and with or without a neck encircling unit deslred, fmnstructed 1n one P1 Wlth the 49 also secured to the jacket, either the neck enback Sectlons 11 12 respeqtlvelycircling. member, or the sleeve portions, or h y Portlons Sectlons 2 14 both, being omitted from the body portion if and 5 y be Wnstructed of a y ltablc d i d. V material, such for instance as relatively light Other objects and advantages of the inbut tough f h the Sections being vention will be hereinafter specifically point- Cut t0 f armholes 18 a the 95 ed out, or will become apparent, as the specifrom? Portlons 14 l 15 haYmg shQuldel fi ti proceeds, portions 20 and 21 which are suitably stitched With the above indicated bj t i i to corresponding shoulder portions 22 and 23 the invention resides in certain novel conprovided On the back Sections 11 and 12 restructions and combinations and arrangement spectively.

The interior of each of the back sections 11 and 12 is provided with a scalloped or reniform hollow inflatable member 24 and respectively. These inflatable members and 25 are so positioned that the longer and thinner end portions are disposed adjacent to each other, while the portions of greater diameter, when inflated are disposed in substantially thehorizontal plane of the body of the wearer. The front sections 14 and 15 are provided with similar air inflatable mem bers 26 and 27 which are reversely arranged, so that when the garment is positioned on the body, the sections 26 and 27 will bear the same relation to each other as the sections 24 and 25 do to each other at the rear of the garment. The air inflatable members 24, 25, 26 and 27 are preferably constructed of rubber and are secured to the body portions 11,

12,"14'and 15 of the jacket in any suitable 'fmanner, as by sewing the air inflatable mom here within pockets, or by securely cementing the air inflatable members to the jacket sections; or, the entire bodyportion may be constructed in one piece with the air inflat- Each of the air inflatable members is provided with a suitable air inlet and outlet valve 28 preferably constructed to permit quick filling of the inflatable members and arranged to tightly seal the same sothat no unexpected leakage of air can normally occur.

.To'scure the garment about the body I provide in this instance a plurality of vertically arranged str'apmembers, including a 'strapi29iat the center line of the back of the garment, straps 30 and 31 extending downward beneaththe arm holes 18 and 19, and strap members 32 and 33 disposed at the front of the garment: .Each of the strap members 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33 is provided with a loop 34 at itslower end, and a horizontal strap 35 is passed through the aligned loops of thevei'tical straps. The vertical straps are secured to the body portions of the jacket in any suitable manner, asfor instance by stitching the same thereto. The front sections 14 and 15 are provided with two pairs of complementary strap, fastening devices 36 and 37 respectivelyand 38 and 39 respectively.

In positioning the garment upon the body the straps 36, 37 and v38, 39 are secured together by means of suitable buckles 40 and 41, and the strap 35 is secured about the waist of the wearer by means of a suitable buckle "42. The garment is thus suitable for use by both thin and stout persons, as well as by tall and short persons. In any case where the strap 35 depends belowthe waist of the wearer, the strap 35, is simply folded up upon the 'straps32, 30, 29, 31 and 33,'to shorten the length ofthe vertical straps, thereby bringing the strap 35 to the wearers line.

' p The garment constructed as described, and

' surrac'e of the water.

wearers head upright above the water.

For use by persons precipitated into the ocean, or other rough water, particularly where the person is likely to remain in the water for a considerable period so as, possibly, to become unconscious, or in cases where the person may be injured, additional means are desirably provided to support the head and insure its being maintained above the For this purpose, in the present instance, I provide upon the body portion of the garment, an air inflatable collar member 43, of substantially U-shaped tubular form. This collar member is desirably formed of rubber, like the members'24, 25, 26 and 27, and has a suitable fabric or other backing 44 which is stitched or otherwise secured to the neck band 45 of the jacket 10, this neck band, as seen in Fig. 3, including a rearward portion 46 and front'portions 47 and 48. Thus, when the person is in the water the member 43 will tend to assume a position against the lower part of the head of the wearer, and will thus act as a pillow to prevent the wearers head from falling to the side, keeping the wearers head and chin in a better position for postponing exhaustion as much as possible. The collar member 43 is preferably arranged so that mg P QHs 51 and 52 secured to the body portions 11 and 14, and 12 and 15, respectively, above the arm holes 18 and 19 respectively, the members 49 and 50 thus surrounding the upper part of the wearers arms just below the shoulders. The members 49 and 50, with thin attaching portions 51 and 52 respectively, thus constitute buoyant sleeve portions which have an appreciable effect in increasing the buoyancy of the garment and effectually supporting the wearers liody in the water.

Considerable particularities of description, as to materials, part details, dimensions, capacities and utilities may have been herein indulged in, but it will be understood that T these statements, made with articular reference to the embodiments 0 the invention illustrated in the drawings, are not in any way to be taken as definitive or limitative of the invention. Inasmuch as many changes could be made in the above constructions, and many apparently widely different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it'is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language contained in the following claims is intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

In other words, the scope of protection contemplated is to be taken solely from the ap pended claims, interpreted as broadly as is consistent with the prior art.

Vhat I claim is:

1. A life saving appliance comprising a jacket including a body encircling portion having a back and right and left hand front sections, a pair of air inflatable members secured to the inner side of said back, a pair of complementary air inflatable members secured one at the inner side of'each of said front sections, a plurality of strap members depending from said jacket sections at the back, sides and front of the jacket, each of said straps having a loop at its lower end, a belt extending horizontally through the loops of said straps, and complementary fastening devices on said front sections. a

2. A life saving appliance comprising a jacket including a body encircling portion having a back and right and left hand front sections, a pair of air inflatable members secured to the inner side of said back, a air of complementary air inflatable mem ers secured one at the inner side of each of said front sections, a plurality of strap members depending from said jacket sections at the back, sides and front of the jacket, each of said straps having a loop at its lower end, a

belt extending horizontally through the loops of said straps, complementary fastening devices on said front sections, a U-shaped air inflatable tubular collar member secured to the neck of said jacket and adapted to encircle the neck of the wearer, and a pair of sleeve members secured to said jacket, each of said sleeve members including a U-shaped air inflatable tubular member arranged to embrace the outer side of the arm below the shoulder of the wearer.

3. A life saving appliance comprising a jacket including a body encircling portion having a back and right and left hand front sections, a pair of reniform air inflatable members secured to; the inner s'ideof said back, ap'air of complementary :reniform a rinflatablemembers secured one at the inner sideof eac'h of-said'frontsections,each of, said reniform members including {an elo'n gated portion and a shorter portion, of larger diameter, theelongat'ed portions of each pairl ofsaid reniform members being adjacent to" each other, with the larger diameter portions disposed in a substantially horizontal plane" sections, a pair of reniform jair inflatable members secured to the inner side of said back, a pair of complementary reniform air inflatable members secured one at the inner side of each ofsaidfront sections, each of said reniform members including an elongated portion and a shorter portion of larger diameter, the elongated portions of each pair of said reniform inembe'rsbeing adjacent to each other, with the larger diameter portions? disposed ina substantially horizontal plane when the jacket is in position on the bodyfa' plurality of strap membersdepending from said jacket sections at the back, sides and front of the jacket, each of said straps having" a loop at its lower end, a belt extending horizontally through the loops of said straps, complementary fastening devices on said front sections, and a U-shaped air inflatable tubular collar member secured to the neck of said jacket and adapted to encircle the neck of the wearer.

5. A life saving appliance comprising a jacket including a body encircling portion having a back and right and left hand front sections, a pair of reniform air inflatable members secured to the inner side of said back, a pair of complementary reniform air inflatable members secured one at the inner side of each of said front sections, each of said reniform members including an elongated portion and a shorter portion of larger diameter, the elongated portions of each pair of said reniform members being adjacent to each other, with the larger diameter portions disposed in a substantially horizontal plane when the jacket is in position on the body, a plurality of strap members depending from said jacket sections at the back, sides and front of the jacket, each of said straps having a loop at its lower end, a belt extending horizontally through the loops of said straps, complementary fastening devices on said front sections, and a pair of sleeve members 

